


Life in the Blue

by GettheSalt



Series: Take Your Fandom to Work [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Retail, Gen, Take Your Fandom to Work Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:03:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6757111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettheSalt/pseuds/GettheSalt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James just started his first day working at the local Best Buy, and the first part of starting a new job is getting to know your co-workers. Thankfully, he’s got Daisy to show him the way (and keep him from getting on the mobile manager’s nerves within his first hour of working there). </p>
<p>Featuring appearances from quite literally almost every recurring character this show has ever had. Whose Best Buy? Their Best Buy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life in the Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this is very cathartic for me.   
> I'm excited to write more, each drabble focusing on a different department and group of characters, and the things that go on at your local electronics retailer. I hope you'll all come along for the ride.

****

The fact of the matter was, in this day and age, you couldn't complain about having a job, or, at least, unless it was truly terrible, you _shouldn't_. That was what James told himself, and, really, he wasn't actually complaining. The thing was, he'd been working his first shift for a total of ten minutes, and he was already having issues with the fact that the store's general manager – Maria Hill – was a total fox, and he couldn't _tell her that._ The paperwork he had signed had made it very, very clear, in the terms and conditions, that doing that would definitely _not_ fall under the proper work behaviours guidelines that had been so helpfully laid out.

Aside from General Manager Maria, there was also the woman he'd had his first interview with, Melinda May. He was told that she was the sales supervisor. He was honestly surprised that he'd progressed past her to the second interview with the sales manager, Phil Coulson. Melinda was a quiet woman with a piercing stare. James had been sure she'd seen through his brushed back hair and nice dress shirt, and seen someone who wasn't the picture of a perfect interview candidate. Phil, on the other hand...

James wasn't sure the guy was all that together. He'd spent a while waxing poetic about some of his own personal hobbies – that included collecting comic cards – before he'd signed off on sending James to Maria for interviews. From what he'd read, Melinda reported directly to Phil; chances were, Melinda was holding Phil up.

Of course, James wasn't sure, but he guessed.

The other woman in the room – what James had assumed would be called the 'manager's office' but was instead called the 'sales development room' – was named Victoria Hand, and she was the assistant manager, and seemed like she was enjoy nonsense just as much as Maria and Melinda.

That was to say, not at all.

And that was why James had kept his smile firmly in place after he'd come back from the staff washroom, all changed into his black pants, black shoes, and, of course, the blue polo with that yellow tag sewn over his heart.

“That shirt was a perfect fit!” Phil exclaimed, clapping him on the back. “Welcome to Best Buy, James.”

“Thanks, Phil.” James answered, shooting the man a pair of fingerguns. “Uh, Mel said--”

“--Melinda.”

James nodded at the correction. “Melinda said that a guy called Lincoln was gonna show me the ropes?”

“Lincoln had to take today off. He was helping us out by picking up a shift so we brought someone else in to work his shift.” Maria explained. James didn't miss her short glance over at Victoria.

“Her name is Daisy.” Victoria filled in. “She's _technically_ our full time Geek Squad agent, but she used to sell on the floor. She's a good leader. You'll like her.”

“Like who?”

James turned, making less of a secret than he should have of the way he looked the newcomer up and down. She was wearing the blue shirt, black pants combo, just like him, and her short hair was loose around her face, framing a pair of pretty brown eyes.

“You, Daisy.” Phil said, brightly, waving her over. “This is James. He's a new hire into Connected Solutions.”

That was the name they used to encompass computers, tablets, cameras, and digital audio, James knew. It seemed a little redundant to him; everything in this place would be 'connected' in some way or another. He didn't comment on it, though, and instead smiled brightly and held his hand out to Daisy.

“James Taylor James.” He said. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Daisy's eyebrows shot up, and she smiled back. “Pleasure's all mine. Aussie?”

James laughed. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. Get a lot of that around here?”

“Not exactly.” Daisy replied, dropping his hand, still smiling at she looked from him to Phil and the other store leaders. “You want me to show him the ropes? Introduce him to everyone?”

“We were hoping you wouldn't mind.” Maria waved her hand at the phone nearby. “We have a conference call shortly, so...”

“You got it, boss lady.” Daisy said, and turned on her heel, striding out of the room. “Come on, James. Let's go, you don't want to be in there when that conference call starts.”

The SDR room door shut behind them, and James hurried to keep up with Daisy as she left the employee only areas, and walked onto the sales floor. The store wasn't too busy, or so it seemed, just a few customers here and there. Most of them seemed to be crowded around the customer service desk. Behind it stood a young woman, wearing a black jacket over her blue shirt, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail while her fingers flew over the keys of the computer in front of her.

“Might as well start up here.” Daisy said with a shrug, and pointed at the young woman. “That's Jemma Simmons. She's our Operations Supervisor. That basically means she's in charge of customer service. When she's not here, running that place belongs to...” Daisy cast around, before she saw the person James assumed she was looking for. The man coming towards them was tall, with perfectly styled facial hair, a big smile and laughing eyes. James liked him on sight. Like Jemma, he was wearing a black jacket over his blue shirt, though his was unzipped. James wondered if that was part of the customer service uniform, even though he hadn't read anything about it in the employee handbook. “Trip. Well, Antoine. No one calls him that, really, except the managers and district team.”

Trip gave them a nod, walking with his customer up to the desk, a product in hand, presumably for an exchange. “Fresh meat?”

Daisy nodded. “James. Connected.”

Trip laughed. “Nice to meet ya, man. Too bad Linc isn't here to give you the grand tour, but Daisy'll do. She basically pulls Linc's strings anyway.”

It wasn't hard for James to catch the look Daisy gave Trip, getting another laugh from the other before he focused his attention on his customer. James had been careful to make sure he understood the rules of the place, and he knew for a fact that dating within the building was a big no-no. That look said otherwise, though.

Interesting.

Daisy waved him on, not expanding on that look at all. Pointing over to the cashier's area, she continued her introductions. “The one who was helping that old couple that're leaving is Alisha. She's a triplet.” Daisy gave him a private smirk. “I sometimes wonder if her sisters come in and work for her. It's what I'd do if I was a triplet. Change things up, you know?”

James returned her smirk. “I was thinking the same thing.” This Daisy was pretty cool, so far. And she was apparently a rule breaker, if she was dating this Lincoln guy. He could dig this place if there were more people like her around. “Who's the other chick?”

Daisy looked over, her eyes landing on the petite, curly haired woman standing by Alisha's till. “Oh. That's Raina. She's... different.” She shrugged. “She likes flowers. She would probably flower-print her shirt if management would let her get away with it.”

“ _Okay_.” James said, drawing the word out. “Interesting. Right, what's next?”

Daisy pointed, and strode off in that direction. “Our department. Well, the main part of our department.” She explained, walking between tables and tables of laptops of all makes, sizes and colours. “You'll spend a lot of time in computers, but you can't forget about digital audio and digital imaging. Sure, people aren't there as much, but they tend to get pretty annoyed if no one's around there to help. So don't get distracted over here.” She waited for James to nod before continuing. “Good, now, that being said, the guy over there, selling that Dell, is Joey. He's a sweetheart, but he can get easily frazzled so... Don't. Don't frazzle him.”

“No frazzling.” James acknowledged. “Got it.”

“Good.” Daisy lead the way through the computer displays, into aisles of cables and tablets, until they emerged into an open area with a few banks of cameras on display. “Digital imaging. This is Elena.”

The salesgirl locking up one of the glass cases filled with cameras straightened up. She made no secret of the way she looked James over, but seemed to approve, as she held her hand out to him. “You are the new guy?”

Her voice was accented, her English a little stilted, and James smiled. She didn't have a single trace of self-consciousness in it. She took pride in who she was. That was likeable. “Yeah. James.”

“Nice to meet you, James. Daisy is showing you everything here?”

“More or less.” James answered, and Elena smiled.

“Good. I have to go help product process, but I will talk to you later.”

She left, them, and as she did, she gave a nod to two people who were dressed like them, in the blue shirt and black pants, but who were also very clearly wearing steel-toed boots.

“That's Mike.” Daisy said, following his gaze. “Really nice guy. He's Trip's equal on the product process team.” Catching his look of confusion, she clarified. “Merchandising team. They make the store hold together, and customer service makes sure the store stays running. Honestly, they're the unsung heroes. And the girl with him was Akela. You have to stay on her good side, but she's great when you get to know her.”

“Product process, backbone, Akela, great when you get to know her, Mike, second in command in the warehouse.” James rattled off. “Got it.”

“The supervisor in the warehouse is Izzy, and then there's Idaho, too, among others but...” She glanced his way. “I think you'll get along with Idaho.”

They continued walking, passing a quiet blonde that Daisy identified as Hannah, explaining that she was part of the multichannel team, involved in selling from the website, and handling in store reserves on product.

As they continued through the store, they passed through the musical instruments department, and Daisy introduced him to a man called Will. James was interested to see what looked like the NASA logo tattooed on Will's arm, just under the sleeve of his blue polo. He'd have to ask about that, later on.

Past the music department, they ended up in televisions, and before James had a chance to orient himself, a loud Brit was descending on them.

“Daisy, Daisy, who's this guy?”

“James.” Daisy answered with a jerk of her thumb in his direction. “New CS guy.”

“All right.” The guy held out his hand, and James took it. “Lance Hunter. HS sales. Welcome to the team.”

“There someone new back here?”

James glanced over his shoulder, and if he was gaping, he couldn't be blamed. The woman who had spoken deserved it. Tall, leggy, and blonde, she looked like the Best Buy Goddess. The exact person they should have in all of their ads. Every single one.

“James.” Daisy introduced, for him. “Bobbi.”

Bobbi smiled, raising an eyebrow. “You remind me of Lance.”

“Did his jaw hit the floor when he saw you the first time, too?”

Lance's tone was warning, but almost resigned. “Oi...”

“It did.” Bobbi said, giving him a look that spoke volumes of history between them. “But, really, it doesn't work on me.” She crossed her arms, focusing on James. “How's everything so far?”

“Uhh, good! I'm meeting everyone and getting the tour so, I mean,” He chuckled and shrugged. “How can can it be, really?”

“Well, it's good that Daisy's looking out for you. You can learn from her, so you better pay attention.”

James couldn't ignore the no-nonsense tone of voice she was using, and glanced down at her oval nametag for a second, confirming what he suspected. Under her name, in italics, was written ' _senior_ '. So, she was in charge of the Home Solutions – televisions and the like – department. He should have expected that.

“Aye-aye, ma'am.”

Bobbi smiled, and then turned away, heading towards a customer who was diligently fussing with a 65 inch television. “If you see Calderon, could you send him back, D?”

Daisy nodded, leading James away. “No problem. See you later, Lance.”

Lance waved, following after Bobbi. “Nice to meet you, mate.”

“Likewise!” James called back. “They seem nice.” He added to Daisy, and she snorted.

“They are. Lance can be a bit of a handful and Tomas? He's... well, he's an acquired taste.”

More information to file away. As they walked along the back of the store, Daisy beelined towards a largely black and orange second of the back wall, but before they made it, a mountain of a man strolled out of a side door, wiping his hands on a rag. He was wearing black pants and a grey work polo, along with steel-toed boots. For a second, James thought he was where Daisy was directing them, but the man was quickly approached by a customer, who he then started talking to.

“He's hard to miss, huh?” Daisy asked, noticing where James was looking. “That's Mack. He's our car audio installer. Don't worry, he's big, but he's a teddy bear.”

James laughed. “A teddy bear?”

“Mhmm.” Daisy confirmed. “But, come on, this is where I work. The Geek Squad precinct.” She led him behind the desk, and punched a code into the door lock before swinging it open. “Now, normally, blue shirts aren't allowed in here, but, since you're CS, and you _might_ have to come in here from time to time, I figured I could show you.”

“Show who what?”

The voice that came from inside the precinct was accented, Scottish, if James wasn't mistaken, and once he stepped around the door, he saw who it belonged to. Shorter guy, curly brown hair, and a vaguely suspicious look. All done up in the Geek Squad uniform of black pants, a white dress shirt and black tie.

“Leo.” Daisy said, pointing at him as she spoke to James. “Our Precinct chief. This is James, new CS guy.”

Leo openly looked him over, before offering a hand. “Welcome to the team.”

“Thanks.” James answered. “Don't worry, I won't be sneaking in here all the time.”

“You'd better not.” Leo said, with the hint of a smile. “Blue shirts--”

“--Aren't allowed in here, I got it. I'll try to resist.”

Leo's eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth, only to be cut off by Daisy laughing.

“You'll try and keep everyone out but Grant, huh? You'll reverse psychology _him_ all day, but anyone else...”

“Because it's _funny_!” Leo countered. “He gets all worked up and grumpy when I tease him. It's hilarious.”

“Leo likes to flirt with our mobile manager.” Daisy said to James, and a second later Leo started sputtering, which seemed to be her cue to hustle James out of the room, with its computers lined up on every inch of counter space.

“Don't tell new people lies, Daisy!”

Using her foot to nudge the precinct door into swinging shut, Daisy called back. “It's not a _lie_ , and you _know it_!”

The door shut with a dull slam, and Daisy grinned, waving him along. “I guess that leads us into the last department we need to visit: Best Buy Mobile.”

“Cell phones.” James said, matter-of-factly. “I know that one.”

“Yeah. It's probably our most profitable department, on average, and the most specialized. Our mobile manager's name is Grant, and he's... well, he's a typical mobile manager. Did you ever read Harry Potter?”

“Uhm. No.”

“Damn. Well, when it comes to mobile managers, they're like Oliver Wood. The obsessed, and very effective, team captain.”

“Ah, I get it.”

They turned the corner and the final department was spread out before them. Behind the desk, a salesgirl with long dark hair was showing a customer something on a screen. A tall man with a definite 'potential murderer' look about him was standing at one of the tables of cell phone display models, explaining a certain Samsung to a mother and daughter pair, and yet another man, with perfectly styled dark hair, was talking to a woman in a black polo with the Apple logo on it.

“That's Kara, up there. The guy with the Apple rep is Sunil, and the guy selling is Kebo.” Daisy explained.

They were all still wearing black pants, but their polos were a darker, almost purple, blue. It set them apart from the rest of the store, that was for sure.

“Any reason you're standing directly in front of the new LG live demo that customers might want to see?”

Daisy smirked as she turned, waving her hand dramatically at the man who had come up behind them. His dark hair was artfully and yet, somehow, severely, style, and the shadow of equally artful stubble was dusted over his cheeks and chin.

“James, _this_ is Grant. Our mobile manager.”

Grant looked James over. “New CS guy, right?”

“Yup. That's what they tell me.” James answered. Grant, unlike the others, wasn't offering his hand to shake.

“Good. You listen to Daisy, and you listen to Lincoln, and Melinda and Phil.” Finally, he offered his hand for a handshake, and James took it, unsurprised to find it to be _very_ firm. “And don't clog up my department by having conversations in it, unless those conversations are with customers and will turn into activations.”

“Play nice.” Daisy admonished. “But we'll get out of the way of your precious demo. I should start teaching him how to sell, anyway.” She stepped around Grant, pausing only to pat him on the chest as they walked away.

“So.” James started, once they were out of earshot. “He's, uh, a bit intense?”

“A little.” Daisy agreed. “But, it's retail, right? At the end of the day, if we aren't, the customers are. You just kind of learn to deal with intense.”

“I'll keep that in mind.”

Daisy's grin was wide when she looked his way. “Good idea. You can either embrace it, or run screaming. There's no middle ground.”

James took the yellow clipboard she was offering him, and filed that information away. Seemed like working at this place was going to prove that, in retail, there was never a dull day.

 

 

 


End file.
